The subject matter of the invention relates to footrests for handicap and styling chairs and specifically to movable footrests for such chairs.
The nature of their profession requires barbers, beauticians, and other users of handicap and styling chairs to have their patrons seated while they perform hair cuts and the like. In order to provide comfort to these patrons, a variety of handicap and styling chairs have been developed that provide footrests. Many of these handicap and styling chairs provide footrests that can be raised or lowered either independently (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 845,861, EDWARDS, U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,757, FIDEL) or in relation to and cooperation with the raising and reclining of the back, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 352,242, HEINE, U.S. Pat. No. 263,174, HARTLEY.
A problem with footrests has been that the extended footrest gets in the way of patrons trying to become seated in the chair. Handicapped and elderly patrons often must be helped or lifted into the chairs presently existing in the art. Seating these people is complicated by the presence of the extended footrest, which must be stepped around while being seated. As can be seen, the danger of falling and subsequent injury is great with such apparatuses. Although this problem is most acute for the handicapped and elderly, it is also a problem for all people. Systems have been devised that hold the footrest out of the way of the patron while the patron seats himself and then moves the footrest into a comfortable position for the patron. This has been accomplished by rotating the footrest around a pivot along the front edge of the seat from a position under the seat to a position under the feet of the patron. FIDEL. This has also been accomplished by extending a footrest outward from under the chair seat essentially parallel to the ground from a position under the seat to a position under the feet of the patron. U.S. Pat. No. 649,383, WILCKE.
However, these types of systems to move footrests out of the way of patrons while seating themselves and then moving the footrest into a comfortable position for the patrons are relatively complex, usually involving gears and ratchets, or are cumbersome and awkward to use, as well as being difficult to adapt to today's smaller and lighter chairs because of their bulk and complexity.
It is therefore highly desirable to provide a simple and easy to use system of moving footrests out of the way of patrons while seating themselves and then moving the footrest into a comfortable, functional position for the patrons.